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Old 12-19-2003, 02:07 PM
  #5650  
Bobby Z
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sands - I read your comment and agree to some extent and wanted to include my thoughts. This is a very interesting topic.

I find that people become very good racers either because they have natural talent at the wheel or they become very good at setting up a car and can adapt to a new track quickly. Those who are naturally talented can drive a car, to a certain level, regardless of what setup the car has. Others who rely more on a properly set up car can become fast and make up the difference in any natural ability they don't have.

I am definitely in the 2nd category and find that car setup and driving for me can be affected by which car I drive for a couple of reasons. Either the setups I am trying are not paying off as I had hoped or the design of the car does not match my driving ability due to the attributes of that design. A mono-ball car is definitely more aggressive than a t-plate car and doesn't feel as planted or stuck. Don't confuse this with a car that pushes as steering and traction are definitely different outcomes of car setup.

Here is my example:

Last season I ran a stock RC12L3 and was very competitive locally. It had a good balance between traction and steering and was very quick for my style. Perhaps I hit a good setup right away. Who knows!!

Then I saw how some of the mono-ball or side-link cars ran and immediately became interested. So this season I tried a Rev 3 and it was different. I ran it for about six or seven weeks and just couldn't get it to handle the way I like. Therefore I'm going back to a t-plate car and will drive a Quad 12 for the rest of the season and into next year.

Being fast can be acheived in many ways, but the two I alluded to above are the most evident. If you don't have the natural ability and/or reflexes, as we get older, then we rely more on a properly set up car to be fast.

Some cars allow us to do this that match our driving style or abilities and some don't.

Thanks

Bob Zahn
R/C Veteran - going on 17 years!!
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